Sydney Wang
is a Los-Angeles based composer, pianist, and producer. She has written for acclaimed artists including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, New Thread Quartet, and Sandbox Percussion. Sydney is the recipient of accolades including the 2017 BMI Student Composer Award and the 2020 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award. A versatile solo and collaborative pianist, she has a particular passion for performing and recording new music.
Sydney currently studies composition with Professor Ian Krouse and piano with Professor William Kinderman at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she is also a staff pianist.
Benjamin Beckman
is a composer, conductor, and pianist based in Los Angeles. Compositional career highlights include performances on the BBC Proms and Tanglewood Music Festival and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and Yale Symphony Orchestra. His 70-minute chamber opera, Passage, won the Beekman Cannon Friends Prize for the best-submitted thesis in the music major at Yale, from which he recently matriculated. Also adept as pianist and vocal coach, Beckman has worked for the Sarasota Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, Classic Lyric Arts France, and extensively with the Opera Theater of Yale College, of which he served as Artistic Director.
Yuxuan Lin
is a third-year composition major—originally from Shenzhen, China—at the Juilliard School where she studies with professor Melinda Wagner. Yuxuan’s music has been played at multiple venues such as the Tokyo to New York: “Moments in This Time” Benefit Concert for Covid-19 Musicians Relief, La Schola Cantorum in Paris, the Young Artist Program of Yellow Barn and The Juilliard School. The majority of her inspirations come from visual arts, dance, nature and architecture. She is intensely interested in the possibilities of combining visual art and music and seeks any opportunity to collaborate between art forms.
Chloe Liuyan Liu
is a composer who earned her Master of Music in Music Composition from Indiana University in May 2023, following her Bachelor of Music in Composition at Wheaton College in 2021. Liu has studied composition under professors such as Shawn Okpebeholo, Xavier Beteta, David Dzubay, Annie Gosfield, and Han Lash. During her time at Indiana University, she focused on interactive music with data-driven instruments for her computer music compositions. Outside of academia, she composes Chinese pop music and soundtracks for short films and games.
Austin Ali
“understands the point of the bass trombone. This’ll be fun.”
–Satisfied bass trombone player
An insatiably curious person, Austin is in pursuit of writing music that inspires wonder in audiences. From complex-meter jazz to spacey orchestral scores, he seeks to compose infectiously fun, unforgettable music.
Kirsten Strom
is an award-winning young composer, conductor and creative writer. From a life-changing encounter with God as a child, she is drawn to sacred themes, the creative use of spatial design, multimedia, works with a conscience and the stunning beauty of nature. Her credo is to glorify God in her work, like Bach before her. Her music has been performed internationally, commissioned, and aired on radio in her native New Zealand. A current composer and arranger for the Auckland Philharmonia, she holds a Master of Music with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music.
Luca Pasquini
is a NYC-based composer & pianist. Luca’s emotionally receptive music encapsulates a wide variety of mediums from the concert music stage to music for dance and film. His musical voice is inspired by multiple genres including alternative rock, electronic music, and jazz. Luca’s music has received awards from the likes of ASCAP, National YoungArts, National Young Composer’s Challenge, Tribeca New Music, Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards, and more. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the New York University Steinhardt School, studying under Justin Dello Joio.
Shane Scott Cook
is a composer, performer and songwriter, whose work often focuses on community and connection. A compelling up-and-coming voice in new music, his work draws from his eclectic musical upbringing as a classical percussionist, jazz singer, folk enthusiast and musical theater aficionado, with recent works written for Del Sol String Quartet, Duo Cortona, UT NME, the LYNX Project, Chicago Choral Artists, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, and Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak. Currently, Shane is Teaching Artist-in Residence with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music in Boonville, California for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
Jackson A. Waters
is an award-winning concert and film composer described as a 'tour de force' by composer Daniel Ott. Writing for orchestras, chamber groups, and wind ensemble, Jackson's widespread composition style has garnered recognition and performances from prestigious ensembles such as the Rhythm Method, The Colburn School, NYU Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and more. Through his drive to push the boundaries of concert music, Jackson’s compositions have sparked international collaboration with artists including Czech jazz composer Beata Hlavenkova and the Prague-based string trio, S.V.A Trio, incorporating audio sampling as well as field recordings into his works.
Mathis Saunier
is a French composer, based in London, UK. He is the artistic director, guitarist, and composer of the pop-noise band Mauvais Sang. He also co-directs all the visual creations of the band. In 2022, he graduated in composition at the Guildhall School Music & Drama in London where he studied with Matthew Kaner and Hollie Harding. He collaborates with international ensembles such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Ligeti Quartet, Exaudi, the Nouvel Ensemble de Neuchâtel (NEC), and the United Strings of Europe. He is a Britten Pears Young Artist 2023/24.